


Fighting the Crime of Love

by MortalAnonymous



Series: Fanboy and Kyle's Bumpy Relationship Road [2]
Category: Fanboy & Chum Chum (Cartoon)
Genre: Boys Kissing, Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, During Canon, Fluff and Humor, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humor, Kissing, Lots of kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Parody, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25250098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MortalAnonymous/pseuds/MortalAnonymous
Summary: Kyle has been putting off thinking about that moment in the bus stop, but Fanboy is more than ready to share what he's been thinking. Only sharing does not go as imagined, so now Fanboy will not stop until he gets Kyle to understand, the only way he knows how - with persistent harebrained scheming!
Relationships: Chum Chum & Fanboy (Fanboy & Chum Chum), Kyle Bloodworth-Thomason/Fanboy
Series: Fanboy and Kyle's Bumpy Relationship Road [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1829329
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	Fighting the Crime of Love

Surrounded by an aura of pink magical energy, two brightly-clad boys found themselves suddenly frozen mid-air before being transported over top two trashcans at the edge of the schoolyard, at which point they were dunked harshly inside them with decided prejudice.

“For the last time!” Kyle, the British pre-teen wizard responsible for the feat, barked at them with his arms pressed indignantly to his sides, “I do _not_ want anything to do with your 'buddy carols' or 'Hug Tetherball' or robot dance parties or anything of the sort! Stop pestering me! It's becoming insufferable!”

In a huff, he stomped off to go and find a nice quiet corner where he could peruse his magic tomes in peace, cleaning himself of the flowers, bolts and explosion dust the spastic duo's unrelenting antics had left him with. Really, it was astonishing what those two could accomplish in one recess..!

Upside down in his trashcan, gangly green-suited legs the only things visible, Fanboy used those to emote as he noted conversationally, “Y'know, Chum Chum, I'm starting to get the feeling Kyle is _not_ noticing how much I've decided I like him.”

Fully inside his own trashcan, his much smaller best friend could only hop his container to express anything. “Yeah, and that's impressive. You've been showering him with non-stop attention all week...and I've helped! I thought for sure Hug Tetherball would have done the trick.”

That 'game' had involved Chum Chum simply smacking a tetherball so hard that it wrapped around Kyle and Fanboy at blurring speed, yanking them into tight proximity with only the ball's pole between them. At which point Fanboy just yelled “Huuuugs!” and wrapped his arms around their redheaded classmate just as firmly as the rope trapping them.

“I know, right?!” Fanboy stressed, “How much more thinly-veiled could an excuse for hugs _be?_ ”

“Hmmmm...” Righting himself and poking out the top of the trash he was nestled in, Chum Chum tapped his chin thoughtfully, feeling an idea blossoming from his friend's words. “Veiled...Fanboy! That's it! What if that's the problem? What if you _stopped_ veiling? _Un_ veiled, if you will.”

Fanboy's heels perked skyward. “You mean _stop_ incessantly scheming scenarios that highlight how much I like-like him? But then how will he know?! What am I supposed to do, just _tell_ him?! Who'd buy just _words??”_

“Aw, you're right. I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. Oo! But you know how when a superhero really likes someone, they always share their secret identities?”

A considerate pause. “Go oooonnn..?”

“What if you unveiled _that?_ Then Kyle'd _have_ to notice! It's super personal, and those scenes are always full of swooning and kissing and couples getting together and stuff.”

“Hmmm, well, I _am_ slightly more partial to emulating _villains,_ but I _do_ like the idea of Kyle swooning for me...”

A thoughtful moment as one of Fanboy's black high-tops tapped against the other. Then his knees splayed as he clapped the soles of them together resolutely. “You know what, Chum Chum? I think you might be just crazy enough to listen to! I'll do it!”

Chum Chum posed adorably. “I try.”

“To the Movie-Studying Cave..!” Fanboy declared, fingertips somehow emerging from the bottom of the trashcan, “Also known as our TV!”

Chum Chum's brow went up as he heard that, and in matching fashion his stubby legs emerged impossibly from the bottom of his own can. Trotting after the other urgently but awkwardly, he called, “Fanboy, wait! School isn't over yet, remember? You still haven't got the stitches out from the last time they sent the dogs after you!”

-

In the depths of his spacious multi-story abode, resembling an apartment complex he owned every floor of, Kyle had a book hovering in front of him as he stood before a heavily-smoking cauldron. This he was using to practice his brewing and trying to forget about his harrowing experiences at school that day. He knew he probably should have expected an upturn in attention from Fanboy after what had happened, but he could never have expected _this_ much! It had to have been practically non-stop all week!

He'd _had_ to go and ask Fanboy why he hovered around him all the time. Why he had to butt his nose into Kyle's business at every opportunity. In a way, he supposed he'd brought this on himself. Fanboy appeared to have never stopped to think about _why_ before, as he normally never needed an excuse to be his invasive, affectionate self, but it seemed like being forced to think about it thanks to a direct question had made him put the pieces together and realize he liked Kyle more than he'd thought previously.

As well, Kyle had been flattered to find out that Fanboy's reasoning for pestering him had been so simple: he thought Kyle was a fun person, and ever since they'd met he'd wanted to preserve Kyle's smile. It just drew the cowled boy in.

Annoying as the wizard found Fanboy, he'd never been able to outright _hate_ him. He was too well-meaning. Too caring towards the wizard overall, and as conflicted as his feelings had always been over the two years they'd known each other, Kyle had been growing more and more tolerant of Fanboy and his little tag-along, even considering them friends. Upon hearing why Fanboy irrationally fixated on him, Kyle had also become extra aware of another aspect of his relationship with the gangly costumed nerd: the weird mutual little _moments_ sprinkled throughout their interactions. So many familiar touches, half-lidded looks and far too many thoughtless reaches to hold hands, only to realize each instance caused a strange wobbling in both boys' stomachs.

Individually, no instances had ever been addressed, but during that conversation, sheltering together from the rain in a lonely bus stop, both boys had ended up putting pieces together and thought maybe there was something there they needed to think about. And they'd agreed to do just that: think about it. Kyle was not yet done thinking about it. In fact, he might have been content to sweep something so unfamiliar under the rug and forget it ever happened. Kyle had never like-liked anyone and it was intimidating to consider. Especially when it regarded someone so...off-kilter. Not the type he would have ever expected to go for. However, Fanboy seemed to be processing things in his own way and was threatening to become the bane of Kyle's existence.

Speak of the devil, Kyle blinked when loose soot from the chimney over the fireplace he was brewing in fell into the cauldron, and before he could even wonder, Fanboy's upside down head poked down from inside said chimney, wearing a big grin. “Hi, Kyle! Whatchya brewin'?”

Kyle jumped a good foot in the air, calling out in startle. Somehow, _somehow,_ he could just never predict when this boy was going to emerge. No matter what Kyle did, he could not keep Fanboy from getting into his house if he wanted in, either. Home invasion seemed to mean nothing to the Spandexed weirdo. Really, _why_ did he give Kyle butterflies again?

Ignoring the scream he was most often greeted with during home visits, Fanboy shimmied himself down out of the chimney, grabbing the mantle and hopping over the cauldron to land on the floor. Then he beamed down into it with curiosity. “Thanks for leaving your chimney unlocked. I was almost sure I wasn't going to get in! So yeah, what _is_ this hissing goop? You makin' a _monster_ that can engulf and dissolve your enemies?” Clearly he found that idea exciting.

Recovering from his near heart attack, Kyle found traditional indignance replacing shock and he stood taller, sniping back, “If I was inclined to make such a beast, I would have sicced it on _you_ ages ago. Zing!” The exclamation was accented by one arm lifting daintily overhead and flipping its wrist, an index finger pointing to the intruder to inform him he'd just been burned. “Thank you for the idea, in fact.”

Hardly put off by the harsh remark, Fanboy half-lifted a forearm in an off-hand way. “You're welcome. But then if it's not a monster, what is it?”

Now folding his arms, Kyle wished the other would just once be less dense enough to absorb the wizard's insults. Instead he just seemed incapable of being offended by anything Kyle did. “It's skin cream, for softness and open pores. Some of us take _pride_ in our appearance?” Another jab he was sure would go right over Fanboy's head.

His assumption was correct, as Fanboy perked like he'd thought of something else entirely. “Ah! That reminds me of why I stopped by in the first place!”

Kyle blinked flatly. “Do you _ever_ have a reason for invading my privacy..?”

“Uh, yeah, I just like you, remember? Wanna spend time together? Ringin' a bell?”

The bluntness of that made Kyle's face heat and he quickly masked it with a sourpuss. Glancing around he noted, “Where is your compatriot, anyhow? Don't you two ninnies usually come in stereo?”

“Oh, Chum Chum? He's rooting from the sidelines today.” Fanboy flicked his eyes towards a window, where Chum Chum grinned and enthusiastically waved a small pennant with a valentine on it. “Don't worry, you'll see him tomorrow. But for now, he's giving me some space time so I can make with the face time~...so yeah, getting back to that 'appearance' thing...”

Kyle's brow furrowed and his lips formed a perplexed pucker, the redhead unsure what part of this to even address first. Sidelines, the idea that he would miss Chum Chum at all, the weird rhyme, the fact that Fanboy still seemed to have a purpose in coming here...

Luckily, he didn't need to bother sorting out any questions, for Fanboy pressed on undaunted, adopting a dramatic pose and wiggling his fingers for emphasis. “Prepare to have your world _rocked,_ Kyle, for _you_ are about to become privy to the most secretest awesomely awesome secret in the universe..!” He swapped equally dynamic poses a few more times as he spoke. “In the interest of upholding the traditions of superhero courting rituals throughout the ages, I have decided to show _you_...my _identity!_ ”

Miming a display of staged pyrotechnics going off by merely imitating the sound of flares and dancing his fluttering fingers around some more, Fanboy then straightened and finished calmly, “I know, I know, it's a lot to take in. Take your time. You might also wanna sit down in case you faint.” Stepping forward, he pushed Kyle gently by the shoulders and backed him up to the fancy red parlor couch in the middle of the room, joining him in sitting.

The wizard boy was now _so_ full of perplex that he had no words at all and simply allowed himself to be carted over and sat down on the couch. Unable to process the daftness of what he was hearing, his mouth now simply hung agape as his eyebrows became so closely knit they were in danger of merging. Whaaaaaaaaat? Superhero courting rituals? What did that even mean? It sounded like Fanboy thought this had something to do with their talk recently, though. And he was making such a ridiculously huge deal out of it. Kyle supposed the number one thing he had to wonder was...

“Why would I care about _that?_ ”

Having been rather proudly sure of how impactful this information was going to be, and puffed up as such, Fanboy opened his eyes hearing such a flat question meet his declaration. Then he realized what the issue must be and gave a breezy chuckle, waving a palm to match. “Oho, Kyle...I don't think you get it. Me..! Face..!” He pointed at himself repeatedly with both index fingers now. “I want to show you my face..! As in the absolute biggest most personal secret I or any other superhero could possibly have?”

Kyle's brow quirked now. His wrists found his hips. “And I don't think _you_ get it...why should that _matter?_ It's a _face._ Everyone's got one. Superhero or otherwise, you're just some nincompoop in obnoxiously-colored tight clothing. You think knowing what you look like is going to change anything?”

Wow. Kyle had to be the only person on the planet not to know how masked identities worked. But that fussy naivety was part of what made him so endearing. Just the fact that he didn't know what he was in for, and _was_ the only person who couldn't register the extent of the situation made Fanboy sure he was the one he wanted to share with. He was only happy to educate.

“You tell me, Kyle,” he shrugged lightly, letting his eyelids fall smoothly, “But the movies and comics don't lie. A hero's face is _only_ to be shared when that hero wants to prove how much he cares. Can you tell how much I've decided I care about you~?”

His hand had moved behind his head, and now it gripped the back of the shiny purple cloth covering the top half of Fanboy's head. In the next second, it had slid off completely and was left to hang freely behind the boy.

Against all reasoning, as Fanboy leaned towards him with that flirtatious expression, Kyle leaned back equally and felt the heat rise in his face again. Somehow, his heart fluttered as he almost saw the point in Fanboy's words. He couldn't stop his eyes from sweeping over what had been revealed, either. It wasn't incredibly much, just like he'd thought, but the stretch of skin above Fanboy's nose looked so _naked_ without its purple shielding. And that _hair..!_

It wasn't even impressive hair. It was a very average brown, not styled well, and in fact rather mussed and long enough to be considered shaggy. But...just that Kyle was _seeing_ Fanboy's hair..!

Meekly, one of the wizard's hands draped over the back of his other and his middle finger rubbed in a nervous fidget. “I don't understand. Wait...why does this feel...intimate..?” he puzzled, “It's just a face...” That was still true. This was still the same old obnoxious, irritating Fanboy. Why _should_ it feel any different to witness his full appearance? It couldn't _just_ be because he was the only one to see it, could it?

Smiling wider to see that Kyle was registering how big a secret he was being shown after all, Fanboy felt ready to tackle the next step in all those flirty scenes he'd researched. He felt a rush of nervous excitement, though it was something he very much wanted to do. He'd never been shy, and was sure it could only end well and ensure him Kyle's hand. A movie wouldn't lie to him!

“Oh, I dunno,” he smirked, “Maybe because I'm about to do this with it..?”

That the only warning, he now let his eyes slide closed all the way and leaned forward further to ensnare Kyle's lips with his own.

Kyle stared. He could practically feel something internal crack out of pure stun. Fanboy never held back on affection for anyone, but _this_ still came across as a very particular message! And Kyle was not ready for it! He felt his chest tighten and his heart race as he flustered, his face saturating in a bright rosy hue. He no longer had any doubt about why the boy in Spandex was flocking around him so much extra. He'd clearly made up his mind about how to feel about Kyle. Strongly enough to decide to trust him like _this._

But...Kyle hadn't thought about it enough! He'd been putting it off! This level of warmth was overwhelming, and quite frankly he wasn't even capable of processing how forward Fanboy was being. Those lips were so loving as they kneaded pleasantly, too. Kyle could feel his eyebrows lifting up, up and away from his forehead, floating into the air and even further towards the ceiling.

Opting to pretend what was happening simply wasn't, Kyle's instinct was to just dodge the issue entirely. He looked up towards his levitating eyebrows and lifted his hands to swipe for them, breaking his lips off from the dizzyingly warm and soft ones that had been serving him such sweetness. “Egad! My eyebrows are escaping! You numpty, look what you've caused!” he scolded just as regularly as if Fanboy had knocked something important over.

It was Fanboy's turn to blink, watching Kyle flail his arms overhead in attempt to reclaim his fugitive body parts. “Wow, uh, way to dodge a mood, Kyle,” he noted, honestly impressed, “Noooothin' else you wanna say..?” Had the other boy really not figured out what he was going for here? His face was nearly as red as his hair, but he was acting like he hadn't even _noticed_ being kissed. Instead he was standing on the back of the couch and stretching for his levitating brow.

“Yes!” Kyle groused, and Fanboy perked hopefully. “I think it's best that you take your leave. Go on, shoo! Before you cause any more of my body parts to flee!” He swept his hand at the other to indicate he'd overstayed his welcome.

His own brow furrowing in confusion, Fanboy stood. “O...kaaaaay...you're _sure_ that's all you want to say, though...” This was all perfectly normal huffy Kyle. He felt it best to doublecheck.

“Quite. Leave me to repair my delicate visage in peace..!” Boldly, the wizard leaped for his escaped eyebrows and managed to grasp his hands around them, but then crashed belly-first to the floor in a painful-looking heap. He groaned, but rolled over and summoned a hand mirror to inspect the damage, placing one wilted and mangled eyebrow back where it belonged and attempting to fix it.

Tapping his chin in confusion, Fanboy reached back to grab his cowl and slide it back on. This was decidedly _not_ how he had expected this to be going, but if Kyle wanted, it also felt like time to fall back and figure out what the problem was. So, Fanboy shrugged and granted, “Well, ok. If you're sure you don't need any bones set after a tumble like that. See you around, Kyle..!” And with a merry wave he turned for the exit.

Outside, Chum Chum was waiting with his little pennant, springing from the bushes as Fanboy came out.

“How'd it go?!” the smaller boy demanded with a grin, “I saw you kiss him! And then the way he was jumping. Was he jumping for joy?! Did it work??”

Placing his wrists on his hips, Fanboy puzzled, staring off into space, “Not quite...y'know, I don't think Kyle _knows_ I even kissed him. Poor guy. He really did _not_ seem to understand how those scenes are supposed to work, and all he seemed to notice was the way his eyebrows flew off his face. Chum Chum, the movies lied to me!” His arms went up in disbelief now.

Chum Chum gasped in disbelief, his own arms forming a taken aback stance. “Impossible! If you can't trust movies, what _can_ you trust?!”

“I know!” Fanboy agreed, but then took a more thoughtful pose and tapped his chin again. “Although...it maaaaay be possible it's not the movies' fault. Kyle really did seem clueless about the whole thing. You think maybe he's just uneducated?”

The shorter boy tapped his own chin. “Hmmm. Maybe. Or maybe you didn't use the _right_ movie. Maybe you should try other romantic superhero scenes. Try to find something that fits _Kyle's_ sense of romance. Whatever that is. Something that would help him understand and notice.” A beat as he glanced up at his best friend. “Did he really not notice you kissed him? Seemed kinda hard to miss.”

Fanboy shook his head. “Not even a _hint_ of acknowledgment. You think maybe he was also too distracted by how handsome I am?” A self-conscious touch to his cheek. Then he shot a trigger finger Chum Chum's way. “But I like your thinking! Persistence! I _will_ find a setting romantic enough to blow Kyle's socks off and _make_ him see how I feel about him!” His finger went upward with determination, and then his hand formed a tight, resolute fist.

Chum Chum raised his arms in support and fluttered his flag. “Yaaaay~!”

-

Kyle had taken himself on a nice, calming broom ride to clear his head. He'd landed on a rooftop somewhere a few neighborhoods over from his house and let his broom disappear back into the ether from which he'd summoned it. With a gentle sigh out his mouth, he sagged his posture some and looked out to oversee the lower buildings around him. His face was still hot.

To help with that, as well as clearing his head, he straightened back up and gave his hands a pair of dainty claps, turning the sky off and into a deep blanket of night. Ahh, that was more serene. Now he could think about how he didn't want to think about how weak in the knees Fanboy's little advance had made him.

“Well, well. Fancy seeing you here, Kitten.”

The young wizard jumped a mile hearing a voice behind him, growling such a low and unexpected greeting. Whipping around, he blinked taken aback by the sight of Fanboy, standing back with his long cape pulled around him in a brooding hunch. The shade of purple he wore was darker, and the top of his cowl was sporting two new additions in the form of pointed nubs resembling ears. It looked rather silly in addition to his own large ears that stuck out sideways from his cowl regularly.

“ _What_ did you call me..?”

As Kyle wrapped his head around the fact that the other had found him again, and became both irritated by that fact and confused by how the other was acting, Fanboy glided closer. Then, from under his cape, he grabbed suddenly, dipping Kyle into an intimate pose and giving him a half-lidded look as brooding as his posture had been, though it was very clearly desirous as well. Kyle felt his breath hitch, and didn't want to admit the goosebumps he felt, excusing it as pure stun.

Fanboy rasped again, “Oh, give it up, Kitten. How long are we going to keep playing these games? You, me, chasing each other back and forth, never quite on the same side of the law...it's enough to drive a fella mad.”

The magical boy's brow furrowed in further confusion. “Beg pardon..?!” He did not in fact seem to recall anything like what the other was describing.

Fanboy did not seem to register his confusion. “You're a top-notch thief, I'll give you that,” he informed the redhead, letting a slight smirk pour onto his lips, “But your greatest crime..? Stealing my heart~.”

In the next second, he was kissing Kyle, deeply under the moonlight as his hand held the back of the other boy's head.

A familiar heat from just a short while ago erupted onto Kyle's face as he quickly felt himself short-circuiting again. What was...why was..?! He had no idea what Fanboy was playing at, but this second advance out of nowhere was only piling onto the feelings Kyle hadn't sorted through yet. It was completely different, and yet he still had no idea how to process it any better. In fact, dare he say this intimacy felt even _more_ alien to deal with.

So he didn't deal with it.

As Fanboy pulled himself away and gave Kyle just a modicum of space, Kyle used it to push himself back upright stiffly and clapped his hands again, turning the sky back into day instantaneously. “Oh, would you look at that, sun's up!” he perked, “Burning daylight! Busy, busy! Things to do!”

He didn't have to excuse beyond that, for upon seeing the sun, Fanboy bristled on all fours like a cat, spitting a violent hiss at it before his darker-costumed self had zipped away, vanishing into the shadows. Kyle blinked, having thought he was the one being called a cat in any sense, but hurried to pass off the nonsense as such and just be glad he was alone again. Also, he would love it if his heart could stop fluttering so against his ribs.

-

Not long after, the wizard had found himself a nice distraction in shopping for restocks on some of his magical ingredients, and was just walking home, finding his mind just on the edge of calming as he escorted his paper bag full of bat's eyes and salamander tails.

He'd just taken a usual shortcut through an alleyway when halfway through, a rattling kind of clanking sounded above his head, and almost immediately there Fanboy was, upside down, scrolling to a stop in front of Kyle and making him jump and call out in startle. He fumbled and dropped his groceries.

This time the lanky nerd was dangling upside down from a fire escape by his knees, sporting a cape and cowl patterned with spiderwebs.

Not bothering to point out the costume change, Kyle shot an angry index finger the pest's way. “How do you keep finding me?!” he demanded tersely. This was something he'd love to know in general. Fanboy seemed able to find him and appear no matter _where_ he was.

“I was in the neighborhood,” Fanboy gave smoothly. While Kyle grunted in annoyance at that vague reply, Fanboy stretched his arms to sweep up the ginger's fallen items and push them back into his arms.

“There you go,” he breezed, and moved his hands behind Kyle's head, tugging the boy a step closer and making him blush as he found their faces nearly grazing. “Saved your stuff. Don't you wanna say 'thank you'~..?”

Being even closer to the other boy than last time, and already recalling the soft press of his warm lips intent on smothering him with affection, Kyle could do little more than let out a hot, stunned breath. His brain was frying prematurely at just the suggestion.

That seemed to be plenty enough for Fanboy. “I thought you might.” And then it was happening. For a third time, his mouth was against Kyle's, feeling even stranger and more intimate in this unusual position. Kyle was sure he could feel smoke coming out the top of his head.

That was, until a light sprinkling was felt there, and a soft drizzle of what felt like rain graced the scene. However, taking a step back and looking at the scene fully would reveal Fanboy had gotten a hose from somewhere and was using it to create the effect.

“You looked a little steamy,” he informed the other, “Thought you could use a refresher.”

Kyle once more opted to simply ignore everything that was happening. “Oh dear..! A shower..? I'd better get out of it..! Don't want to wither away. Wizards and rainwater, you know..! And I wouldn't want my dried ox tongues to rehydrate..!”

Pretending to shield himself from the fake drizzle with his forearm as he let out a few badly-acted cries of feeble pain, he then used one corner of his own black cape as a makeshift umbrella to hide himself and dart away, soon vanishing in a puff of magical pink fog.

Fanboy's lips puckered in confusion and he scratched his head, resembling a monkey more than a spider as he passed the hose a perplexed look. Kyle was even weak to _fake_ rain..? Man, that boy needed a lot of protecting. Good thing Fanboy was up to the task. If only Kyle would figure out the message he was trying to send.

-

Stepping out of a crystal ball tuner's shop, Kyle would turn with intent to go and find something nice and relaxing to do when he would find a heeled, purple, platform boot stepping to block his path. Looking up would find Fanboy, dressed in a matching purple miniskirt and crop top. He was also wearing a very fluffy, long, curly, ginger wig over top his cowl and cape, and he appeared to have been sprayed with only the most orange of spray tans.

“Bleep blorba mumf orble vorble!” he greeted, gloved hands proudly on his hips. Then he tilted his head and asked, “Meeble mobble peena neeny-neena florble morbin?”

Kyle...had the least idea how to respond yet. Fanboy was no stranger to crossdressing, and the wizard couldn't say he found that concept particularly odd in any case, but the costume...was. And the garbled nonsense...how was he _supposed_ to react to that?!

As he silently turned and attempted to take a step in the opposite direction, Fanboy zoomed past to be in front of him again, linking his hands around Kyle's neck as he did and pulling him into a bow so that _he_ was dipping Fanboy this time around. And, as the lanky boy did this, he pulled Kyle to kiss him as well.

It happened so quickly, Kyle's only reaction was his eyes widening as his face sizzled. Now Fanboy was pulling _him_ into the dominant role..? It was intimidating all over again to find himself in such a position with the other, especially in public. Oh no, and had his hands seriously auto-piloted their way around Fanboy's waist like that?

Quickly, Kyle put them both up in surrender position, but Fanboy remained clinging around his neck as he pulled back and sent the magical boy a flirty expression.

“My people share languages through kissing,” he explained, “And we speak the language of looooove~...are you ready for another lesson, Earth boy~?” A smarmy wiggle of his eyebrows followed the open hint.

Once more Kyle found himself absolutely unable to process how forward Fanboy was being, or the ridiculous methods he was employing to be so. His only instinct was to escape. Find a place to hide. It was obvious he was going to _have_ to think about his feelings by this point, but he couldn't even get a moment to do that!

Overwhelmed, he simply grabbed Fanboy's wrists and removed his looping arms like a necklace. “No, I'm afraid I don't think that's a good look for you,” he breezed, flapping a wrist daintily as he stepped past, “No time to give fashion advice, though. I'm due to be...anywhere else right now..!”

Pointing two trigger fingers down the sidewalk away from Fanboy, Kyle took one very long step and then had made himself scarce in a big hurry.

Fanboy watched him go with a mildly puzzled expression, straightening his posture and then placing his chin thoughtfully into the crook between his forefinger and thumb. His other hand raised and snapped its fingers twice. “You heard him, Chum Chum! New makeup!”

Chum Chum popped out of a nearby fire hydrant, makeup pallet and brush eagerly raised overhead in his hands. “You got it, Fanboy!”

-

Seated in his favorite dark corner of the library, surrounded by arcane tomes, Kyle sat at a table where several Tarot cards were laid out. More of them hovered in the air in front of him as he cycled through them with swipes of his fingers. Reading some bleak futures always cleared his head.

The step of a chunky black combat boot nearby made him look over from his floating cards, however, and he blinked to find Fanboy breaking his isolation yet another time. Now the wannabe superhero had on a heavy black trenchcoat over top an equally dark bodysuit, and the chin his cowl exposed was done up with a scraggly five o'clock shadow. His stance was confident and cold as he stared Kyle down.

Then he moved to step towards the redheaded wizard, steps purposeful.

Only able to guess why he was here, Kyle stood, heart beating faster from a mix of anticipation and intimidation from this new uncharacteristic choice of outfit. He had to get away before Fanboy had a chance to make a move! Although, somehow he was also intrigued to see what the other boy could possibly have in mind for such a persona...

But no!

Clearing his throat, Kyle ended up taking a firm stance and thrusting a palm towards his Tarot deck. “Don't you dare!” he warned, “Can't you see I'm busy with the future here?”

Fanboy had come to a rest in front of the boy in braces, and his eyes slid calmly for the deck indicated. Then his eyes moved back up to Kyle's and he smirked. His hands reached to slip around Kyle's waist and under his arms.

“I've already settled on a finale that leaves this whole operation toppling like a house of cards...and me kissing my boyfriend.”

Kyle's whole torso erupted in flames along with his face this time as Fanboy brought their bodies flush and kissed him firmly. The Tarot deck erupted as well, the cards flurrying through the air around them as the magical boy was unable to properly maintain his levitation spell.

Boy...

_Boyfriend..!!_

Just hearing that word was enough to make Kyle panic. Lord, but Fanboy truly had no reservations when it came to what he liked! He could not have _been_ more forward about his desires for this relationship. Meanwhile Kyle...Kyle was just dizzy. He didn't even know what to think as his breath became short and his chest swelled with a blend of uncertain tension and a terrifying warm glow.

Being Fanboy's boyfriend...that was...could he even see something that big? That official? They'd only agreed to _think_ about how much they liked each other..! This was too much!

Feeling even more need to escape just entertaining that intensely embarrassing notion, Kyle pushed Fanboy away from him and swatted his arms desperately to create some space. “Tea!!” he burst.

Fanboy blinked at the British boy now red as a lobster and sticking an index finger tensely into the air. “Eh?”

“Yes!!” Kyle insisted, “I do believe I've missed tea time!! Oh, how silly of me! Of course this is no time to be fiddling with cards! Thank you for the reminder! Well, off I go!”

In a flash, he'd whisked out his wand and cast a spell at his surroundings, literally flinging himself from the setting and across time and space. He landed in Galaxy Hills' graveyard in the dead of night, as he would note while righting himself near a crypt and dusting himself off. He smiled and sighed in relief. As a practitioner of necromancy, a graveyard was always a soothing setting. Perhaps communing with the dead would even be better pastime than Tarot.

That idea didn't even get to take flight, however, as Fanboy popped up from behind a grave, arms crossed. Kyle jumped and yelled in startle.

This time a spiky claw protruded from between each of Fanboy's gloved knuckles, and the eyes of his cowl were framed by a strange sort of black cat's eye mask. His bodysuit was bright yellow.

Kyle, growling now as he just couldn't seem to _shake_ this boy, even moreso than usual, clenched his fists and stomped over before letting his hands open in their own claw motion. “Oh, what kind of speech do you have this time??” he demanded. Couldn't he get a _moment_ alone to even finish letting _one_ of these antics set in?!

“No speech,” Fanboy growled back, though his tone was a lot less livid and more slick. His eyes swept the graveyard briefly. “But until we take our last breath, I'm gonna keep livin'. But if this _is_ our last breath, I ain't wastin' it.”

And again, he'd grabbed Kyle to him, by his thigh and the back of his head as he leaned back against a nearby headstone, kissing him with unmistakable passion.

And again, Kyle felt his insides on fire.

However, this time, it really was too much. This time, he scrambled immediately to get those arms off of him, yank himself away, and flee. Arms overhead as he completely failed to process the swirl of panic, anger, flatter, perplex and endearment inside himself, he simply yelled and sprinted into the night.

On the way home, he looked tirelessly over his shoulder as he ran through the streets, fearing the hounding affection preventing him from having any peace. But perhaps he should have been looking ahead, as that was where a manhole cover burst into the air, the tangled tendrils of a massive plant pouring out of it. Kyle skidded to a halt on his heels before it, shoulders tense to find whom else but Fanboy riding the largest stalk of this monstrous plant, the lanky one posed in alluring recline on his side. That stalk resembled a Venus flytrap, and it came towards Kyle as one of the smaller tendrils slithered its way around him and carried him to meet the cowled boy. He only had time for a small 'eep'.

Now Fanboy wore another ginger wig over his cowl, this one straight in style but just as long and feminine. His green bodysuit was replaced entirely with plant material.

“How about a less heroic touch?” the crossdressing boy offered in a sultry tone, “Perhaps you'll find a bit of poisonous plant play in- _toxic_ -ating~..?”

Drawing himself up on his arms in a slinky fashion, he leaned forward and kissed the boy he had ensnared before him.

When he pulled back, Kyle's brow was down-turned as he actually wore an expression of defiant victory. “Ha _ha!!”_ he exclaimed, wriggling an arm through a gap in the vine around him and reaching for his lips. Those he removed, revealing them to be detachable from his real pair underneath. “That didn't count! Magic fake lips!” He'd done it! He'd gotten around Fanboy's advances!

Fanboy's lips shifted to the side as he blinked in curious note at the duplicate set of lips, but then his eyes slid towards the real ones. He didn't know what this was about, but if Kyle wanted to avoid lip contact, shouldn't he have _not_ revealed his trick? On the plus side, this made it seem like he might actually have figured out Fanboy was trying to kiss him.

Fanboy just leaned forward again and kissed the real lips Kyle had exposed.

Registering in this moment the lapse of logic in revealing his secret weapon, Kyle also found himself hot, bothered, and above all, indignant that he could not win!

A giant burst of magical pink energy swelled around him, tearing him free of the vine around him as his every limb spread outward, accompanied by a frustrated, enraged scream. He clutched at his head, screamed some more, simply having snapped beyond intelligible speech, and shot off through the air, using that aura to fly as he sought nothing but the confines of his own home.

Another blink from Fanboy as he watched the wizard depart overhead.

“Darn it..!” he speculated with a mild snap of his fingers, “I feel like we were really close on that one. Eh, Chum Chum?” A glance down at the stalk he was riding.

The mouth of the flytrap opened to reveal the stout boy inside, working the massive plant monster as a puppet. He offered his friend a sympathetic look. “Almost. But there's always tomorrow. I think maybe we should take a break for tonight. My makeup hand is getting kinda sore. And we really blew the effects budget with this one.” A more concerned shift of his mouth towards the tendril beast he piloted.

Fanboy sighed in defeat, admitting it was time to consider things as such...for now. “Yeah...you're probably right...still! How hard is it to convince someone you like-like them?!”

-

The next day at school, during recess, Fanboy gazed longingly across the blacktop at the redheaded boy sitting timidly, almost paranoid, at an outdoor picnic table. The gangly wannabe hero hadn't tried any further shenanigans since yesterday, and in fact had come to a different decision. Also he and his helper had hit the end of their budget.

“Y'know, Chum Chum,” he speculated to that helper beside him now, “I think maybe it's time to stop beating around the bush. Kyle is clearly just not getting it.”

Chum Chum's hands went to his cheeks as he gasped. “You mean..?”

“I'm afraid so,” the taller boy returned gravely, “I'm going to have to approach Kyle...without the help of a comic _or_ a movie! As _myself!”_

The stout boy's expression sobered in respect and he stood tall, offering his friend a respectable salute. “Such bravery...”

“I know.” Just as somber, Fanboy placed his hands behind his back and began his march. “Well, here goes. Wish me luck.”

Breaking his grim visage, Chum Chum waved a chipper hand overhead, calling, “Luuuuuuuck~!!” His valentine pennant was back in his other hand as he rooted for the boy in purple.

Once he'd reached the center of the blacktop, Fanboy's slow, dragging steps came to a halt. He took a weighty, steeling inhale. Then he too completely shattered any semblance of seriousness by shooting an arm overhead and waving frantically towards the picnic area, a large grin on his face as he also began hopping from foot to foot in a dancing plea for attention.

“Hey! Hey, Kyle! C'mere! Kyle, I wanna tell you something! Kyyyyllllle! Hey! Kyle, I'm talking to you! I'm over here! It's me! Fanboy! Hey, Kyle!”

The British boy sent the one making a fool of himself a tense, embarrassed look. He hadn't been hounded since yesterday, but he'd spent the entire time _worrying_ he would be! He couldn't even use his time alone to think for himself. Now, seeing himself summoned, he could only fear a trap. Still, Fanboy wasn't in a stupid costume this time...at least not one any more stupid than his usual outfit. Also, he was drawing the attention of the other children as he continued his calls for Kyle's attention, so perhaps it was best to silence him.

Rising, hands fidgeting nervously with one another, the tween wizard came to meet the party incessantly hollering his name. “What??” he demanded, half-anxiously, half-irate, and keeping a safe distance.

Fanboy closed that distance and put a hand on Kyle's shoulder. Kyle supposed he should have expected that.

“Kyle, I know things have probably been very confusing for you since last recess,” Fanboy began. The redhead blinked and his brow went up slightly. He was taken off-guard by this unusually aware remark. Fanboy went on, “In some ways, it might even be partially my fault.”

Now Kyle's brow formed a look of annoyance. That was more like it.

Unfazed by the expression he was receiving, Fanboy perked, “But I want to make it up to you..! No more mixed messages! Kyle, I've been thinking a _lot_ about what you mean to me since that day we had our snuggle-talk, and well...I want you to get what I think from the Fanboy _you_ know. The one you understand. That said...here's what I think.”

The next moment, both his gloved hands had come to grasp Kyle's jawline and he'd tugged the ginger into an intense kiss.

This kiss was so intense, a pulse rippled through the air like a bomb had been dropped, followed by a pink circular cloud of love blasting outward from the source, which dusted the playground and several stunned children in a mess of glittery fallout. Anyone not looking at Fanboy's distraction was certainly looking now.

Kyle had almost thought Fanboy had been making sense. He'd aaaaalmost thought he was going to have a rational discussion with him. But now, feeling most shaken and utterly rocked by a wave of undeniable infatuation, clearly registering the ardor seeping into him from the other, he also couldn't help but feel duped. It _had_ been a trap! That was the feeling that won out. After everything, after how stressed he'd been, after Fanboy was choosing to display his announcement in such a humiliatingly public manner, Kyle could not help but feel like this near-sensical declaration had merely been an excuse to get lips on him again.

It conflicted mightily with the unfathomable warmth and sincerity he felt literally radiating from Fanboy. The end result when the cowled boy stepped back was Kyle passing his gaze around himself at all the gawping eyes having witnessed him being so obviously declared an object of affection, and the greatest performance of feigned ignorance anyone had ever performed.

Incredibly stiffly, Kyle jutted a leg out and pivoted on his other heel, facing back towards the picnic area. “Oh, is that all..?” he passed off with immense strain, “Pink snow..? What an unusual weather forecast.” And, like a toy soldier, he marched most awkwardly back towards the table he'd come from.

Brow furrowed in confusion at first, Fanboy's mouth opened briefly, but he decided he needed to act more and darted forward to rush in front of Kyle, waving his arms in front of him, motioning in disbelief for the other to stop. “Ok, woah. Woah. Kyle! I'm seriously starting to get worried for you..! I mean what's it gonna _take_ for you to notice something as simple as a kiss?? I don't think I can be any more obvious..!” At this point, it was all he could do to outright notify the other boy of the situation.

Kyle's shoulders hunched sharply and his face snapped to a cross grimace. “Notice! NOTICE?!” His temper flared now as he leaned in over the other, Fanboy shrinking back under his livid volume. “I've done nothing BUT notice!! I can't ESCAPE it!! Everywhere I turn, _you're_ there waiting! Waiting with _another_ kiss and a way to impossibly outdo your last! Why?! I will _never_ understand you!!”

Fanboy blinked again, brow staying furrowed to hear that Kyle _had_ been aware of his goal this entire time. “I...just wanted the way I told you to be special...like you are to me,” he explained weakly, “But wait...if you knew...why were you acting like you didn't? To me it looked like you had no idea what I was even trying to do..!”

The wizard was caught off-guard again by such an honest admission regarding Fanboy's reasoning, and it caused his hackles to lower some. Then Fanboy's own confusion caused him to glance down at the ground to realize perhaps the other boy wasn't the only one at fault. Kyle passed a sweep of his eyes around the playground, quite self-conscious about the scene he and Fanboy were causing, and decided his response would require privacy anyway.

He raised both arms in a slow, purposeful motion, conjuring an opaque dome of magic in which the two could talk apart from the others. Then he looked at Fanboy's pained confusion and sighed in a mix of taut patience and guilt over his outburst. “It's not that I even utterly hate the attention...” he admitted first, earning a puzzled blink, “But ever since that bit where you...showed me your face, I haven't had a _moment_ to let that strange intimacy sink in..! Much less how I feel about all the kissing..!”

Here his hands clawed at his face in flustered fret. “You've simply piled it all on too much at once since that first moment..! And that moment was too much for me to process as it was..! Both of those things were far more than I expected them to be, and I wasn't ready for either of them..! From there it somehow turned into more about simply avoiding you.”

Fanboy's brow went up in registration. “So...you _did_ figure out how I felt...but you just needed some space to think about it..? Well, why didn't you just _say_ so?!” Having his own turn being frustrated, he put his wrists on his hips and huffed. “It woulda saved a whole lotta trouble.”

Kyle looked cross again in turn and mirrored the motion. “I just told you, I couldn't process..! I admit I could have done a better job thinking about how much I like you before you reached your own conclusions, but I still would expect you to have enough common sense to wait for a response after the fact!” Never mind that he had actually been hoping to continue avoiding the issue. Without at least a little nagging, he likely would have been content to sweep the need to admit any actual feelings for a dingus like Fanboy under the rug for eternity. But Fanboy didn't know that!

A scoff from the boy in purple. “Ugh, well it woulda been nice to at least have a _sign_ you'd been paying attention..! How was I supposed to know?! And I did kind of share with you _the biggest secret I have._ Couldn't you at least say you needed some time to deal with it after all? 'Cause like...I did warn you.”

This was true, Kyle would relent to with a grunt. “Fine. But would you _really_ have given me the space I requested..? You invade my privacy quite consistently against my protest. Honestly, I marvel at how clueless you seem to be as to what qualifies as harassment.”

Fanboy gripped one upper arm and looked away in a bit of guilt himself. “Ehhh. Only when I think you protest _too much._ Sometimes. A lot of the time. Also I'm very impulsive. But I just love those smiles of yours too much not to try and make one. I thought knowing how I felt might make you smile. Like it did last time.”

Kyle blushed there and had to look away again. It was fair to say that he didn't always mean his protests as harshly as he gave them, but he didn't admit that. It was also true that upon first hearing that Fanboy found him fun to be around and could potentially have stronger feelings for him, it had touched the wizard and made him smile. That part he _could_ admit. He just still couldn't wrap his head around how someone could be so readily infatuated with him.

The boy in purple added, “But I can still take a _hint..!_ Sometimes a _strong_ hint, fair enough, but yeah, like, right now I can see pretty easily that you are _not_ ready to be my boyfriend.”

A deeper hue saturated on Kyle's cheeks, spreading across his nose and reaching his ears as he heard that word. “Q-Quite...”

An awkward moment of mutual avoided eye contact passed before Fanboy broke it with a tentative, uncertain shrug offered to the other boy. “Soooo...rain check? Again?”

“A-heh...” Yes, this would be the third time Kyle was putting off an actual decision regarding his feelings towards this boy. This utter ninny that even now was showing such flattering levels of dedicated interest. He wasn't even put off by Kyle's temper, and still held hope that the Brit would return his affection. As well, Kyle just might if he thought about it.

The redhead more than saw it was time to stop running from tender emotions just because they were intimidating. He might have never thought companionship was for him, but Fanboy had already been breaking him to that idea for two whole years now, whether intentional or not. It was time to be fair to that boy, and to those recent feelings attempting to swell between them.

“I would appreciate it,” Kyle granted, “And I promise, this time I will most certainly prioritize thinking about it. And I will come to you once I've made my decision.”

This made Fanboy's face break into a beam, and he passed the other a bright thumb up. His other hand raised in oath. “And I swear I will _not_ pester you – about that – until you do.”

With this agreement, the hard part now was letting the dome drop and facing the rest of the student body. Both boys pretended nothing had happened this time, innocently folding their hands behind their backs and walking in opposite directions with nonchalant whistles.

-

Chum Chum had been on the edge of his seat after hearing about the deal Fanboy had struck with Kyle. He was _dying_ to know if Kyle was going to say yes to being Fanboy's boyfriend! They were both his closest friends, and he was rooting for them so hard..!

Fanboy had tried to play it cool, like he was confident about what Kyle's answer was going to be, but in the end he had broken to Chum Chum's wild speculations and joined in, gossiping about what they thought Kyle must be thinking and sharing giddy speculations about what life as a couple would be like.

Kyle spent the next few days thinking, just as he'd promised. As he'd expected, there was a lot of thought to sort through, and none of it was particularly easy. He did not roll with his emotions as easily as Fanboy, and in that regard he was almost jealous of the boy he pondered.

With the time to himself, he was able to let everything sink in in its own due course, however. He remembered every ounce of annoyance Fanboy had instilled in him with his unrelenting attention since meeting him. He remembered how he'd started appreciating the lengths Fanboy would go to out of wish to see him happy, dragging his little friend along with him, willing as Chum Chum was to be there. He remembered how he himself had begun wishing every now and again for a slow day to be invaded with outrageous shenanigans. He'd fiddled with a souvenir Fanboy had insisted he take from their time sheltering in the rain together, a fully-functional origami action figure folded out of a bus schedule, while considering this. That had been such a nice day. In the aftermath of experiencing increased affection, the wizard boy even noticed missing that spastic attention directed his way. It was almost like losing a puppy, all that unfiltered, unquestioning adoration suddenly vanished.

Fanboy certainly made life interesting, that was for sure. Maybe accepting those invasions Kyle sometimes wished for was the answer to being less bothered by them. Maybe deep down he was really just bothered by how he _wanted_ to be so unafraid as to join in some of those games. Not all, but some. And maybe those flutters in his stomach wanted him to take that plunge for a reason. Despite what an insufferable boob he was, Kyle had to admit it. He still liked Fanboy. Whether he liked it or not.

Well, maybe he'd learn to like it.

That was the final thought Kyle had as he gulped before raising his knuckles to rap on on the Fan Lair's door.

That door, shaped like a large outline of Fanboy's head, opened, and the boy himself blinked in mild surprise to find such a rare visitor on his and Chum Chum's doorstep. His roommate was beside him, delivering a matching blink.

Kyle's fingers wiggled delicately in a timid greeting. “Hello...I've um...I've come to speak with Fanboy. If it's a good time.”

Both boys in Spandex gasped, curled their knuckles to their cheeks and shared a giddy high-pitched note of excitement before one of Fanboy's hands stretched outside to grab Kyle by the shoulder and drag him inside. “Well, don't just stand there! Get your butt in here!” the lanky boy insisted, “One, you are _always_ welcome in the Lair. Two, it is _always_ a good time when you visit!”

Chum Chum remained by the door as Fanboy carted Kyle over to the couch and pushed him to take a load off. The boy in orange sidled halfway outside and informed, “Agreed! But uh, I'll just make myself scarce for this one...go ahead, pretend I was never even here.” He slipped the rest of the way outside and the door closed. In a nearby window, his valentine pennant appeared and waggled in gleeful support.

Kyle passed that a wary glance from the couch he'd been seated on, taken aback by the average warm reception for one of his arrivals. It certainly seemed there was no bitterness over how long this had taken him. And at least Chum Chum seemed to have been very optimistic.

A clearing of Kyle's throat. “Yes, well...please don't ask me for details as to _why_ I've decided this, because I'm sure I still don't know the full extent of it, but I _have_ decided...yes. I think I might like to try...allowing you to like me as you do.”

A giddy gasp from the standing party. “You mean you wanna be my boyfriend?!” Fanboy's eyes inflated and gained a distinct sparkling quality.

With a meek chuckle, still finding that open forwardness intimidating but not wanting to stifle it so hard as he had prior, Kyle offered a lifted palm in a minute sort of shrug. “I...believe so.”

“Eeeeeeeeeee~!!” The other boy squealed incredibly hard at that. Sparks appeared at the soles of his high-tops and in the next seconds he'd blasted off on emotional fireworks, the entire roof opening up as Fanboy soared into the sky. “Kyle, I am positively over the moon to hear that!” he gushed, and pointed to the glowing orb directly underneath the apex of his leap. “See, there's the moon! I'm over it!”

Then, from here, he curled tightly in further glee and drifted down like a feather, squealing further until he was seated on the other half of the couch next to Kyle.

Kyle couldn't help a flattered tut alongside a relenting smile forming. Fanboy really was too silly sometimes.

Turning to grin widely at the ginger wizard, Fanboy only perked further to see Kyle's lips turned upward. Merrily, he thrust a finger towards the expression. _“There's_ that smile I love to see!” he exclaimed, then gasped, “Oh my gosh...Kyle...smile...Kyle's smile...I'm gonna call you Kyley-Smiley!”

Now Kyle's cheeks pinched in uncertainty. How cutesy. “Well that's hardly fitting. I don't think I need a nick...”

“Are you kidding?!” Fanboy burst, “It's perfect! You are precious, your smile is precious, and you're such a prickly poutypuss, it is _just_ the right dash of irony~..!” He wrapped his arms around Kyle's head and cooed the final part of the sentence to him. Kyle did like to make him work for smiles, but it was always worth it, and the magical boy was such a cute little curmudgeon anyway.

Turning for the open roof, Fanboy hollered across the neighborhood, “Heeeeey!! Chum Chum!! He said yes!! And I'm gonna call him Kyley-Smiley~!!”

A distant song-song warble answered at matching volume, “Adoooorablllllllllle~!!”

Kyle blanched to hear this new nickname shouted for all the world to hear, but then sagged and relented to it with a tiny 'mh...' groaned out his nose. There was just no stopping it when Fanboy was set on something, and really...he supposed it wasn't too bad. It was just a pet name. In its own way, Fanboy expressing his excitement by coming up with it on the spot was its own share of adorable. These were the kind of antics he could stand.

Now, wrapped in Fanboy's tight hug as the cowled boy joyously snuggled his head, Kyle did have another point he wanted to address. “Um...Fanboy...there is something else I've been thinking about these last few days...regarding this decision.”

Opening his eyes, curious, Fanboy loosened his hold and pulled back to look at the other boy. “Yeah, Kyley-Smiley~..?” Taking the pet name for a test drive, he thought, yeah, that felt right.

Rolling his eyes slightly at hearing himself addressed this way, Kyle also couldn't deny that it felt just a hint of special. “Actually, I...well, it's about your face,” he then began tentatively.

Expression turning just a bit knowing, Fanboy lifted the other boy's hands in his. “Oh~..?”

Feeling nerves awaken as it appeared Fanboy already could guess where he was headed with this, Kyle gave his throat a tiny clear. “Yes, I...I've been thinking I'd like to try seeing it again. I didn't quite get the chance to appreciate it the first time.” Oh dear. His palms were already feeling clammy against Fanboy's. Holding hands after admitting he wanted to be the other's boyfriend was so much more flustering, not to mention admitting this fresh desire.

A soft tut exited Fanboy's nose. Overhead, the roof swung itself back shut like sensing the shift in mood. “You can see my face anytime you want~,” the boy in purple assured, “Boyfriend privileges, baby. Well, best friend too - and a random street urchin. Long story, but it you've got eleven minutes I'll tell you sometime. I don't think I ever would've had a problem with you seeing me, really, but still. Yeah, this is just way more special.”

Kyle had already been feeling flushed upon being told he had special privilege to the sight, but he was even more distracted by the way Fanboy casually reached for the back of his cowl while he took a small side ramble. Truly, it appeared, he was extremely comfortable around the wizard. Kyle swallowed.

And then it was off, Fanboy passing the other a demure smile as he sat relaxed and cowl-free, the sight of his tousled brown hair setting off just as many foreign wiggles in Kyle's gut as before.

“Well~?” Fanboy said in tease, “Am I as handsome as you remember~?”

A small heated breath slipped its way out of Kyle's nose, his hand feeling even sweatier as it clenched Fanboy's instinctively out of anxiety. Realizing he'd squeezed Fanboy's hand instead of his own just made him more embarrassed.

Even so, this time he let himself consider the emotions passing through. It _did_ feel like special knowledge, and for whatever reason he did manage to find the other boy attractive.

“I still don't quite get why this feels so intimate,” he ventured shyly, “But I don't care. It is and I'm...rather enjoying it.” Another beat in which his motivations caused him to heat further. “And there is...one other thing I've missed...” This time his hand squeezed the other's on purpose, and his second hand reached for the one Fanboy had taken to pull his cowl down with.

Now Fanboy blinked, but he soon smiled again, happy Kyle was acting so sweetly towards him. It looked like he really had accepted Fanboy's feelings, even if he continued struggling with them a little. Fanboy felt a slight spark of excitement at those words, as well. “Yeah..?” he prompted hopefully.

“Yes, I...” Kyle faltered slightly under that perfectly exposed face staring at him with such warmth, wanting to do this all the more but embarrassed by how he did. But he did want it. “Ahem. Can I kiss you..?”

It made Fanboy's chest burst with light to hear his hopes confirmed. Kyle actually wanted to kiss _him._ Well, the feeling was certainly mutual. His tone was entirely sincere as he granted bluntly, “Again, anytime you want, Kyle.”

The wizard had to look away for a moment at this open insist that Fanboy's lips were all his, to be claimed at whim. But then he looked back, staring at those in their content smile, still very much finding the desire to do what he'd asked.

So he did.

Now he pretended his reservations were the thing that didn't exist, and closing his eyes in preparation as he did it, Kyle let himself fall forward and put his lips on Fanboy's this time.

A light show went off behind his eyelids. His heartbeat hastened. His hands firmed yet again around Fanboy's, and he felt an intimate jolt in his belly to feel Fanboy squeezing back. Then he felt a rush of ardor as Fanboy _kissed_ him back, assuming it was only fair now that Kyle had started it.

Though Kyle tensed to feel it at first, his posture softened shortly, and the two boys melted against one another as they explored a kiss together properly, lips kneading and seeking rhythm, thoughtfully absorbing one another's taste. Kyle's eyelids would flutter open to find Fanboy already staring at him from under ones half-lidded. Embarrassed, the redhead would glance away briefly, but then send his gaze back to lock with Fanboy's, reveling in the intimacy now that he was allowing himself to experience it.

At last they parted, mouths slightly ajar as they had to suck in deeper breaths for how short they'd become during this exchange. Then Kyle's lips formed a lop-sided grin and he chuckled a bit dumbly, grabbing bashfully at his own left cheek. It really made no sense, but this felt too right. He like-liked a nincompoop. What was wrong with him?

Fanboy grinned back at this adorable display. And Kyle thought a cute nickname didn't suit him. “Well, I don't know about you,” he quipped, “But I think that is _much_ nicer when you're kissing me _back.”_

Kyle just chuckled some more, then got ahold of himself and let out a pleasant sigh, letting his eyes wander up to Fanboy's hair. On impulse, he let his left hand rise to dig its fingers into those messy, fluffy locks. “Quite.” He actually saw Fanboy's breath hitch as his fingertips gave the boy's scalp a tender stroke. The British boy felt kind of proud to have caught Fanboy off-guard and witness him tint pink to some degree thanks to an action of his.

Of course then it was his turn to be stunned by endearment again as Fanboy easily accepted the contact and tilted his head into that massage for a nuzzle, a lazy smile plastered wide on his face. He'd never had another person's fingers in his hair. It felt so good to let the boy he adored do it. In turn, he reached his free hand around Kyle's neck to play with the hair sweeping down past the base of his skull.

Kyle felt goosebumps.

Fanboy offered, “So Chum Chum and I were going to play Rocketpack Laser Death Blast before you came over. You wanna get in on that whenever he decides to come back?”

“You know, normally I would go out of my way to avoid _any_ of your antics, but...why not?” Kyle decided, “I feel as though I ought to take a bit more interest in your adventures anyhow.”

A glance towards the door. “Only...until Chum Chum _does_ get back, and you no doubt find some way to upset me again, we ought to do something else to pass the time.” A slight pause as he felt a tiny stir of sauciness accompanying his acceptance of this arrangement. “He did seem so invested in our getting together as well. Why don't we give him a nice sight to come home to~?”

Watching Kyle lean closer with a forming bold suggestiveness under his giddy nerves, Fanboy's brow went up and he felt another throb in his chest. But in response, he smirked. “Well, aren't you are fast to adjust,” he noted in tease, “But I like your style~.” Fanboy shared this impish streak with the other. Chum Chum would no doubt be thrilled to find his best friend successfully making out with the boy he'd been helping him go after anyway. Plus, he got to make out with Kyle. Where was the downside?

That said, he finished what Kyle had started in closing their distance, pulling the redhead in by the hand on his neck. They both sighed and sank right into the sensation this time, stroking one anothers' hair and letting that funny feeling holding hands caused in their stomachs swell as it wanted. Their minds soared on Cloud Nine as they both entertained thoughts about what the future might hold for them. This was going to be an interesting relationship, that was for certain.

And strangely enough, it would work.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone gets every single specific reference moment...mad nerd propz. XD
> 
> (I know they're not crazy obscure or anything, but there's a bunch.)


End file.
